Questions Still Swirl Around EA's Origin Bans

[Something Amyss]

Or. Give Origin the old "Piss-off" and buy physical copies of EA games. and, of course, those gamers w/o access to a local game store can always order a copy over the internet.

Until Origin becomes mandatory for more than a couple games in all formats.

 

[ewhac]

...Or you may simply want to think about [em]not patronizing Origin[/em] (or, as I call it, stEAm).

Honestly, between this and Project Shakedown Ten Dollar and their misogynistic marketing stunts, EA dearly needs to have at least a couple of bad fiscal quarters.

 

[Adultism]

Does anyone remember when buying a game meant ownership of that game? Where publishers couldn't take away your ability to play the game, where they couldn't dictate how many times you could install your game, where they didn't force you to be connected to their (short lived) server to play single player and where they didn't moan that you sold your property on to someone else? I hope this trend of games becoming a service by the publisher isn't here to stay but of course it is. Publishers wont give up this level of control, especially when consumers seem happy to accept it.

Ah yes, I remember those days.

For those who don't know, it was like this.

I went to the store. I bought the game. I installed the game. I played the game.

It was that simple. What's so different now?

I go to the store. I buy the game. I start up Steam. I input the CD code. Game connects to the internet to make sure I'm not a pirate even though I proved that when I bought the game. Game installs whatever service it needs to install(Steam, Origin, GFWL, ect.). Game updates. Start game (provided the servers are working). Get told to register the game. Finally get to the game menu. Play game.

Oh, and god help you if one of those things ends up not working.

I can top this. I have to go for awhile after this post though.

Buy game from gamestop + Guide that comes with a code.
Get home
Put CD in
Use CD code with steam
Installs core files
STEAM INSTALLS THE REST - 5 hours later.
Game is installed
Servers are to busy to activate the extra content that I got for pre ordering
Gotta wait 24 hours for the servers to be able to install my DLC
Finally install my DLC
Try to get my code from prima games
Prima tells me that they are out of codes and I must email their support team
Email
Wait 24 hours
Get new code
Get all my DLC installed.
Get all my extra content installed
Play game.

Yeah, I wasted like 3 days trying to get all the content that I pre ordered, however prima was really cool about it and gave me the code outright, despite how rude I was.

 

[Something Amyss]

Do you think that everyone in government will work for the benefit of the people?

Can't speak for the guy you're quoting, but I KNOW nobody at EA is working for the benefit of the people, so if there are even a few in Government, it's still a step up.

 

[Sylveria]

Don't buy games from EA. They hate you and will screw you at every opportunity.

 

[oldtaku]

So the only people dumb enough to go with Origin are people who buy Madden every year and Battlefield 3 type people.

...

Well that's f#4ing huge, I think it'll manage to survive, just like Bank of America does. Masochistic idiots are a gigantic resource.

 

[Natdaprat]

I don't understand. How can you buy a game and then be denied access to it due to an opinion expressed on an online forum that's not directly related to said purchase of said game?

That doesn't make any sense. The two are completely unrelated things. This feels like a direct violation of human rights.

No wander a growing number of people pirate games JUST to avoid this kind of treatment.

 

[VyseRogueKing]

Haven't bought a game from EA in years. Anything I do buy is used. Suck it EA! Sorry devs but your publisher is all kinds of evil.

 

[mjc0961]

"We have listened to our customers and are planning a policy update which will include more equitable rules on suspensions - we want to make sure the time fits the crime,"

What a load of crap. There is absolutely no circumstance in which any "crime" on a forum would justify denying people access to games that they paid for.

This shit is why the last EA game I hope to ever buy is Mass Effect 3. It won't be that hard, because aside from that end of Shepard's story in ME3 and their running the Command & Conquer series into the ground with #4, EA no longer publishes a damn thing I want to play anyway.

 

[rsvp42]

Though honestly, I'm all for just starving Origins in general, letting it flop about in its own filth before finally suffocating in it. Though... I think The Old Republic is attached to Origin, so... might not be too easy then.

TOR can be purchased digitally through Origin, but it's not required to log in or play. Bioware likes to make that clear. I sense even they don't want to deal with gamer aggro surrounding Origin.

 

[vxicepickxv]

Don't buy games from EA. They hate you and will screw you at every opportunity.

I feel old. I remember when EA was a quality publisher that put out nothing but quality products. What the damn happened?

 

[Low Key]

Golly EA, I hope you're prepared for a class action lawsuit if you don't get this bullshit ironed out. There may be a clause in your TOS you think "magically" absolves you of class action lawsuits, but assure you the American justice system will have a slightly different take on the matter. Your network might be covered, but there is a clear difference between the service you provide and the content your customers purchase.

 

[aashell13]

jeez. another reason to avoid EA/Origin like the plague.

It occurs to me that if people keep buying their stuff then they've no reason to change, however wrong they may be or how loudly we complain.

 

[Snotnarok]

This is why I hate people who support DRM, when a company can take a way your game for saying something, they have too much power. Thankfully I don't give a shit about EAs forums.

 

[Fasckira]

So EA customer service is either grossly inept or deliberately vindictive.

Not surprised the executives want things dealt with quietly.

The first option. I run an NFS community and read frequent rant threads from users trying to get stuff done through EA Support and in short its a frickin nightmare. To test the complaints out, I raised a support ticket regarding playing NFS Carbon on Windows 7 (It had worked previously but when I went to reinstall it awhile back it wouldn't load).

I gave the support team my full system specs, every resolution I had tried so far including the various ones I found on the EA KB and forum suppor threads, tried reinstalling it and everything. The response I got was, "Sorry to hear you're having these problems..." then went on to list the first three things I had already said I tried. After a few back and forths with the support (with their time to respond getting longer and longer) they eventually asked me to try the same stuff they had already asked in the first email! The flow chart they follow had presumably looped around.

Now, back to the case of the accounts getting banned completely.

The following is theory and has not been confirmed by EA staff but instead based on facts Ive seen and from info gained. When you sign up to EA, it creates an account called EA.Global on their systems. Then every game that you register after that generates a new alt for that game so EA.NFSTheRun, EA.TheSims3 etc. When you first sign up to the forums it creates a forum alt too. You can check this by logging into the EA forums and going to options then checking the "Personas" area.

You can change your persona in the forums and actually use the alt for different sections with different customisations. For example, you may have your NFS alts set up with a suitably car based avatar. The problem Im willing to bet with the people who've been banned from the forum and the game however is that they've set their EA.Global persona as their active profile.
This means that when they then ***** at a forum mod (who are not official EA employees most of the time), the forum mod swings the ban hammer and ends up banning the whole tree of accounts.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Electronic Arts says it is working on "more equitable" rules but in the meantime it appears that a ban from its forums could still leave you locked out of your Origin games.

The fuck do they mean they're "working on more equitable rules"? It's not rocket science you imbeciles, forum bans should not equal being banned from using your games. Look at any other game company who's games have an online component and a community forum. They sure as hell aren't banning players from their games for breaking the forum rules. (or for complaining)

When it comes to companies I'm convinced are staffing very high paid chimpanzees to decide on policy Nintendo sits above EA only because their online stuff is bogged down with all that "friend code" bullshit, plus the existence of the Wii. EA is still a close second for company run by the most out of touch corporate douche bags.

Though we can rant and rave all we want, it won't change a damned thing. The guys at the top are making so much money they really don't give two shits how broken or stupid their policies on treating their customers are. They will make money regardless and eventually move on to the position of CEO at some other company when they get bored dabbling in the gaming industry.

 

[Sean951]

What happened to you EA? You used to be cool.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Electronic Arts says it is working on "more equitable" rules but in the meantime it appears that a ban from its forums could still leave you locked out of your Origin games.

The fuck do they mean they're "working on more equitable rules"?

It means they will start using a condom before they bend you over.


Out of curiosity, I would like to know how many people bought vs how many pirated Battlefield 3. With Mass Effect 3 coming up I wonder what the ratio will be there.

EA have to know people don't like what they are doing don't they? They can't honestly think that people are going to stand for it.

 

[samsonguy920]

Even though Origin won't be required for The Old Republic, this gives me pause at getting that game when I can afford to, as there will be no telling how vindictive EA will be on ingame behavior. Fortunately there is nothing else on EA's roster that I even want, nor are there any games by EA I own that they could ban me from playing.
I eagerly await to when that little arbitration clause comes to the test when someone finally sues EA's ass for their crap.

This can also affect Bioware game logins. If anything this is a joint reason never to buy an EA related product, never use origin and then never go on their forums. I mean in this dsy and age its not like a person who gets their EA account banned can't just go online and get a crack anyway; hell multiplayer games are becoming more and more commonly cracked.

All EA is doing is fucking over the legitimate user on another level by putting an account based system of utter bullshit in place. Yes Valve do something similar, no it does not make valve "Just as bad". There is a fine line to walk in digital distribution and at almost every level EA is on the wrong side of it.

Valve does nothing on par with this. They do not ban you from games you own and the forum isn't even tied to your Steam account. Something that was made apparent with the recent forum hack. Unless you were stupid enough to use the same handle and password for your forum as you have for your Steam.
EA is performing every example of how to handle a digital service the WRONG way. Valve was nowhere near this incompetent or sadistic when they started Steam, and they have gotten further away from that example every year. I am thinking EA is only going to get worse, and when their profits finally begin to die because of this, they will just blame Activision.

What happened to you EA? You used to be cool.

Spore. Spore happened

Or, more precisely, SecuROM. And it is still there in EA's games, people. Run a search of your PC. And you still can't remove it easily, either.

Though honestly, I'm all for just starving Origins in general, letting it flop about in its own filth before finally suffocating in it. Though... I think The Old Republic is attached to Origin, so... might not be too easy then.

TOR can be purchased digitally through Origin, but it's not required to log in or play. Bioware likes to make that clear. I sense even they don't want to deal with gamer aggro surrounding Origin.

Considering BioWare is owned by EA, that line of thought is kind of silly. Consider the last time a publisher-owned developer tried to play by their own rules instead of the publisher's. They ended up all fired and investigated by the SEC. (Although considering they were able to set up their own company immediately after, I am thinking the SEC were just used for intimidation factor.)
No, TOR not running on Origin is probably for other reasons. It won't stop EA from giving you the stink-eye for spamming fart jokes on Alderaan, though. You can bet on that. Especially when your TOR account ends up linked up with your Origin account, anyway. As I was just informed the other day, with EA's best fake smile put on. (Apparently now I can have an Origin account with zero effort!)

 

[DTWolfwood]

yeh don't post on any official EA forums unless its to say. "I have this [bug/glitch/error] Anyone know a fix?"

Those forums should really be nothing more than a help desk, using it for anything invites what was mentioned in this article.